Sintering behavior analysis of compacted dry recycled UPuO powder using master sintering curve theory

中道 晋哉; 砂押 剛雄*; 廣岡 瞬; Vauchy, R.; 村上 龍敏

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 595, p.155072_1 - 155072_11, 2024/07

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155072

Using dry recycled powders for uranium and plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel production can reduce unnecessary storage and accountability of nuclear material in facilities. The shrinkage behavior of green compacts of dry recycled powders differs from that of conventional raw powders because the dry recycled MOX powder is obtained from the fabrication scrap of sintered pellets. The shrinkage behavior of dry recycled MOX powder has been investigated by dilatometry. Based on the shrinkage curves, sintering apparent activation energies were evaluated using the master sintering curve (MSC) and the constant rate of heating methods. The obtained values were higher than the energy evaluated for raw powder experiments. The sigmoid sintering prediction equation using the MSC function was constructed. The accumulation of data on the activation energy for various sintering conditions will lead to the wide application of this prediction formula in the future.

Estimation method for residual sodium amount on unloaded dummy fuel assembly

河口 宗道; 平川 康; 杉田 裕亮; 山口 裕

Nuclear Technology, 210(1), p.55 - 71, 2024/01

https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2023.2214261

本研究はもんじゅ模擬燃料集合体における残留ナトリウム膜及び塊の評価手法を開発し、実験的にピンの間のギャップを通ってナトリウムが流れる様子を確認した。ピン表面の残留ナトリウムの量は3種類の試験体((a)単ピン,(b)7本ピン集合体,(c)169本ピン集合体)を使って測定した。実験では、ピンの引き抜き速度やナトリウム濡れ性の改善により、残留ナトリウム量が劇的に増加することを明らかにした。さらに、169本ピンの実験により、短尺であるが模擬燃料集合体の実効的な残留ナトリウム量を測定し、模擬燃料集合体を通って流れるナトリウムの振舞いを確認した。開発した予測手法は、4つのモデル(粘性流れモデル、Landau-Levich-Derjaguin(LLD)モデル、Brethertonモデルに関わる実験式、管内の毛細管力モデル)から構築されており、その計算結果は実験の残留ナトリウム量と同程度な結果を与えた。ただし、ナトリウム濡れ性の不確かさはLLDモデルの予測値の約1.8倍である。この予測手法を使って、もんじゅの模擬燃料集合体に残留するナトリウム量を評価することができる。

Numerical study of initiating phase of core disruptive accident in small sodium-cooled fast reactors with negative void reactivity

石田 真也; 深野 義隆; 飛田 吉春; 岡野 靖

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 13 Pages, 2023/00

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2023.2243949

To improve the safety of future SFRs, the development of SFRs with low void reactivity has been promoted. Small SFRs can have a negative void coefficient of reactivity, so the analysis of the CDA event sequence in small SFRs is valuable for the investigation of the reactor characteristics for the future research and development of SFRs. In this study, the typical initiating events of a CDA in small SFRs were evaluated with the computational code, SAS4A. The event progression of ULOF and UTOP in the low void reactivity reactor is found to be slow due to the effective operation of the negative reactivity feedback and the absence of significant positive reactivity insertion. No power excursion occurs in the initiating phase. In ULOF, the cladding melt and relocation behavior becomes more important for the evaluation of the event progression due to its positive reactivity.

Numerical simulation of annular dispersed flow in simplified subchannel of light water cooled fast reactor RBWR

吉田 啓之; 堀口 直樹; 小野 綾子; 古市 肇*; 上遠野 健一*

Proceedings of 29th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 29) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2022/08

About the boiling transition (BT) that determines the maximum thermal output of the BWR, it is considered that the spacers have significant effects on the occurrence of BT. And occurrence conditions of BT can be changed by devising the spacer shapes. In the light water cooled fast reactor: RBWR, thermal-hydraulics conditions are more severe than the current BWR. Then, the effect of the spacer on BT should be sufficiently utilized in the RBWR. In the thermal-hydraulics design for the current BWR, large-scale tests were carried out and used to evaluate BT conditions. The RBWR is still in the design stage, and there is room to be changed to many parameters. Then, it is not reasonable to determine the shape of the spacer by evaluation only for large-scale tests. On the other hand, by applying a two-phase CFD method with remarkable development in recent years, we can develop a model that can predict the effect of spacers mechanistically. This research used the detailed two-phase flow simulation code TPFIT developed by JAEA to simulate annular dispersed flow in RBWR subchannels. In the occurrence of BT, it is considered that the two-phase flow pattern is the annular dispersed flow, and we want to evaluate the effects of spacer shape on annular dispersed flow in RBWR subchannels. As the first step of this research, we performed numerical simulations of annular dispersed flow in the simplified subchannel of RBWR. We used a circular tube with the same hydraulic diameter as the RBWR subchannel to consider the basic effects of spacer on the annular dispersed flow. As a simulation parameter, we choose the existence of the spacer. The spacer used in the simulation has a simplified shape and the same blockage ratio as the RBWR. In this paper, we describe the result of numerical simulation. We evaluated droplets' size and velocity based on simulation results for the spacer's existence and non-existence cases.

Development of an integrated computer code system for analyzing irradiation behaviors of a fast reactor fuel

上羽 智之; 根本 潤一*; 伊藤 昌弘*; 石谷 行生*; 堂田 哲広; 田中 正暁; 大塚 智史

Nuclear Technology, 207(8), p.1280 - 1289, 2021/08

https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1810977

高速炉燃料集合体の冷却材熱流動、燃料ピンの照射挙動、燃料ピン束の照射変形を連成して解析する統合計算コードシステムを開発した。このシステムは複数の計算コードから構成され、各コードが計算に必要とする情報を他のコードの計算結果から得るようになっている。これにより、照射下の燃料集合体における熱,機械,化学的挙動を関連させて解析することができる。本システムの機能確認のテスト解析として、高速炉で照射した混合酸化物燃料ピン束集合体の照射挙動解析を実施した。解析結果は集合体の横断面図、集合体や燃料ピンの3次元イメージモデル上に描画した。更に、解析で得られた燃料ピンの様々な照射挙動について、照射条件の影響を評価した。

Irradiation growth behavior of improved Zr-based alloys for fuel cladding

天谷 政樹; 垣内 一雄; 三原 武

Proceedings of International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference / Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance Conference (Global/Top Fuel 2019) (USB Flash Drive), p.1048 - 1056, 2019/09

New fuel cladding alloys of which composition was changed from conventional ones have been developed by nuclear fuel vendors and utilities. Since the irradiation growth of fuel cladding is one of the most important parameters which determine the dimensional stability of fuel rod and/or fuel assembly during normal operation, the irradiation growth behavior of the improved Zr-based alloys for light-water reactor fuel cladding was investigated. The coupon specimens were prepared from fuel cladding tubes with various kinds of improved Zr-based alloys. The specimens were loaded into test rigs and had been irradiated in the Halden reactor in Norway under several coolant temperature conditions up to a fast-neutron fluence of 7.810 (n/cm, E 1 MeV). Irradiation conditions such as specimen temperatures had been continuously monitored during the irradiation. During and after the irradiation, the amount of irradiation growth of each specimen was evaluated as a part of the interim and final inspections. The effect of the difference in alloy composition on the amount of irradiation growth seemed insignificant if the other conditions e.g. the final heat treatment condition at fabrication and the irradiation temperature were the same.

Thermal-hydraulic analysis of fuel assembly with inner duct structure of an advanced loop-type sodium-cooled fast reactor using ASFRE code

菊地 紀宏; 今井 康友*; 吉川 龍志; 堂田 哲広; 田中 正暁; 大島 宏之

Proceedings of 25th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-25) (CD-ROM), 12 Pages, 2017/07

先進ループ型ナトリウム冷却高速炉の設計検討において、高速炉の安全性向上のための方策の一つとしてFAIDUSと呼ばれる内部ダクトを有する燃料集合体の採用が検討されている。FAIDUSの設計実現性を確認するため、種々の運転条件下における熱流動評価が必要であり、本研究では、模擬燃料集合体を用いた試験を対象とした数値解析を通じ燃料集合体へのASFREコードの適用性を確認した後、内部ダクトのない燃料集合体とFAIDUSの熱流動解析を実施した。得られた結果からFAIDUS内に非対称な温度分布が生じず、FAIDUSの温度分布特性は内部ダクトのない燃料集合体と同様であることがわかった。特に、低流量条件において、浮力による局所的な流れの促進が流量再配分をもたらし、その影響により平坦な温度分布が形成されるとの知見を得た。

Analyses of deformation and thermal-hydraulics within a wire-wrapped fuel subassembly in a liquid metal fast reactor by the coupled code system

上羽 智之; 大島 宏之; 伊藤 昌弘*

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 317, p.133 - 145, 2017/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2017.03.026

ワイヤスペーサ型高速炉燃料集合体における燃料ピンバンドル変形挙動と冷却材熱流動挙動の解析を、ピンバンドル変形解析コードのBAMBOOと熱流動解析コードのASFREを連成させることにより行った。連成解析の結果、スエリングやクリープによってBDIが生じたピンバンドル変形の影響により、集合体内の冷却材の径方向温度分布は平坦化する方向に変化することが示された。このような温度分布の平坦化は、BDIが厳しくなる前の段階においても、ワイヤ張力が原因で生じるピンの湾曲変形により、僅かではあるが生じることも示された。また、ワイヤピッチに依存してピンバンドルの変形状態が変わるが、これによる熱流動への影響についても考察した。

Tradeoff analysis of metal-fueled fast reactor design concepts

Stauff, N. E.*; 大釜 和也; Aliberti, G.*; 大木 繁夫; Kim, T. K.*

Proceedings of 2017 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2017) (CD-ROM), 10 Pages, 2017/04

Within the framework of the U.S.-Japan bilateral, the Civil Nuclear Energy R&D Working Group (CNWG), a core design study was conducted by ANL and JAEA. Its objective was to compare the core performance characteristics of metal-fueled Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors (SFRs) developed with different design preferences: JAEA preferred a loop-type primary system with high coolant temperature, while ANL targeted a pool-type primary system with a conventional coolant temperature. The comparative core design study was conducted based on the 3530 MWth Japan Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (JSFR) metallic-fuel core concept. This study confirms that both metal fueled SFR core concepts developed by ANL and JAEA based on different design preferences and approaches are viable options.

Characterization of the insoluble sludge from the dissolution of irradiated fast breeder reactor fuel

粟飯原 はるか; 荒井 陽一; 柴田 淳広; 野村 和則; 竹内 正行

Procedia Chemistry, 21, p.279 - 284, 2016/12

BB2015-3214.pdf:0.31MB

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proche.2016.10.039

Insoluble sludge is generated in reprocessing process. Actual sludge data, which had been obtained from the dissolution experiments of irradiated fuel of fast reactor "Joyo" were reevaluated especially from the view point of the characterization of sludge. The yields of sludge were calculated from the weight and there were less than 1%. Element concentrations of sludge were analyzed after decomposing by alkaline fusion. As the results, molybdenum, technetium, ruthenium, rhodium and palladium accounted for mostly of the sludge. From their chemical compositions and structure analyzed by XRD show good agree that main component of sludge is MoRuRhPdTc regardless of the experimental condition. At the condition of reprocessing fast breeder fuel, it is indicated that molybdenum and zirconium in dissolved solution is low, therefore zirconium molybdate hydrate may not produce abundant amount in the process.